1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a travel clip or shipping aid for use with a surgical staple cartridge. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a removable travel clip for retaining components within a staple cartridge while allowing viewing of those components for inspection and verification of type.
2. Background of Related Art
Certain surgical procedures often require forming lines of staples through tissue sections and, in some instances, severing the tissue between the staple lines with a knife blade. Surgical staplers typically include a removable staple containing cartridge for use with a surgical stapler. The removable staple cartridge generally includes an outer support or frame member and a body portion containing one or more rows of staple containing pockets. In some cases, the staple cartridge includes a plurality of longitudinally staggered rows of staple containing pockets.
The staple containing pockets formed in the cartridge are open to a tissue engaging surface on the top of the insert and extend through openings in the bottom. The staple containing pockets each contain a surgical staple adjacent the tissue engaging surface of the cartridge and a pusher positioned beneath the surgical staple for driving the surgical staple out of the staple cartridge.
Often during shipment and assembly, the staple cartridge is shipped separately from the outer support or frame member. In these instances, the bottom of the staple cartridge is open and/or uncovered risking loss of the pushers loosely contained within the staple pockets. In other instances, a cover is used that completely obscures the tissue engaging surface of the staple cartridge.
Additionally, bottom surfaces of the pushers are often marked with various indicia to indicate the size and/or type of the surgical staples contained within the staple cartridge. This facilitates inspection and verification of the contents of the staple cartridge and speeds up the assembly process of the final staple cartridge. However, if a cover is utilized to retain the pushers within the staple pockets, the indicia on the bases of the pushers cannot be inspected without removing the cover.
Therefore, a need exists for a travel clip or shipping aid for retaining the pushers within the staple pockets. A further need exists for a travel clip or shipping aid for retaining pushers within staple pockets while allowing for inspection of the bases of the pushers. A need exists for identification of the cartridge and indication of the presence of the staples and pushers.